[ WARRIOR VOLLEYBALL ]
Northridge knocks off
second-ranked WarriorsThe seventh-ranked Matadors hand
Hawaii a four-game defeat to improve
to 12-6 overall
NORTHRIDGE, Calif. >> This area has often been hit by tremors and earthquakes, the most notable being the 6.7 magnitude in 1994, the epicenter of which was not far from the Cal State Northridge campus.
Last night, it was the Matadors who shook things up with the roof collapsing on Hawaii. No. 7 Northridge had 17 1/2 blocks in stuffing the No. 2 Warriors 30-26, 30-28, 22-30, 30-26 at the Matadome.
It was the second consecutive Mountain Pacific Sports Federation loss for Hawaii (11-4, 8-3), sliding the Warriors into a third-place tie with UCLA. Northridge (12-6, 7-5) moved into sixth.
It was also the first time a Mike Wilton-coached UH team lost at the Matadome in seven visits. The last time the Warriors lost here was in 1992, coach Alan Rosehill's last season.
Pedro Azenha had a match-high 19 kills to lead Hawaii, with Delano Thomas adding 12 kills and two of the team's six aces. Mauli'a LaBarre was in on 11 of the Warriors' 18 blocks.
Nils Nielsen led the Matadors with 14 kills and Dan Rhodes added 13 kills and three of CSUN's seven aces.
The teams meet again tomorrow (5 p.m. Hawaii time).
"We dug a mighty big hole early and couldn't quite get out," said Hawaii coach Mike Wilton. "We played some pretty good volleyball in Game 3, but we had to play catch-up the rest of the way."
The Warriors played catch-up from the start as they waited for Josh Stanhiser's uniform to catch up with him. The senior middle blocker had left it at the hotel near Los Angeles International airport and his parents picked it up on their way to the match.
It appeared the Warriors were waiting for their game to arrive as well. Stanhiser's miscue forced Hawaii to move Thomas from left-side hitter to middle blocker and have sophomore reserve Matt Bender move into Thomas' spot.
Hawaii struggled early and often against the Northridge block. The Matadors had 5 1/2 blocks in Game 1 and hit .480.
Stanhiser's uniform arrived late in Game 2. He put down his first swing to tie it at 23, and an ace by Thomas gave the Warriors a brief lead at 24-23. But the Matadors finished it off with a 7-4 run, with their sixth block of the game -- a block of LaBarre -- ending it.
Hawaii turned the tables in Game 3, finally finding a blocking rhythm. Stanhiser and Azenha teamed to block Rhodes to give the Warriors the lead for good at 16-14.
The momentum was short-lived. Hawaii scored the first two points of Game 4 on blocks only to see Northridge run off four unanswered points.
The Warriors pulled to within 26-25, but the Matadors pulled away. Two CSUN kills and an ace and the match was over after 1 hour and 59 minutes.
"We won't make any excuses," said Wilton, whose team finished with 18 blocks. "I didn't think Northridge was a great passing team, but they did well tonight. They were far ahead of us in blocks until the end and we helped them a lot of time.
"You could say we came out flat. Maybe it had a little to do with who was playing where (to start). We'll be concentrating on serving and passing (in today's practice). I'm expecting us to do a better job Friday."
Cal. State Northridge def. Hawaii
30-26, 30-28, 22-30, 30-26Warriors (11-4, 8-3 MPSF)
Matadors (12-6, 7-5 MPSF)
g k e att pct. bs ba d Delgado 4 6 3 17 .176 0 2 3 Jeschke 1 0 0 0 .000 0 0 0 Beckwith 4 1 1 3 .000 0 6 2 Reft 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 9 Azenha 4 19 8 39 .282 0 6 8 Bender 2 4 2 6 .333 0 0 2 LaBarre 4 5 5 12 .000 1 10 1 Thomas 4 12 7 34 .147 0 4 4 Stanhiser 3 6 0 7 .857 0 6 0 Totals 4 53 27 119 .218 1 34 29
Key -- g: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct.: hitting percentage; bs: block solos; ba: block assists; d: digs.
g k e att pct. bs ba d Nielsen 4 14 7 24 .292 0 3 6 Lischer 4 10 2 16 .500 0 6 0 Waite 4 9 6 19 .158 0 9 0 Tramblie 4 2 0 4 .500 0 3 4 Rhodes 4 13 7 33 .182 0 4 4 Hanson 4 8 5 20 .150 0 8 3 English 4 0 0 0 .000 0 0 7 Conover 3 0 0 0 .000 0 0 1 Allen 4 0 0 0 .000 1 0 1 Totals 4 56 27 116 .250 1 33 26
Aces -- Hawaii (6): Delgado 2, Thomas 2, Beckwith, Azenha. CSN (7): Rhodes 3, Nielsen 2, Tramblie, Hanson. Assists -- Hawaii (50): Beckwith 47, Reft 2, Azenha. CSN (51): Tramblie 48, Rhodes, Hanson, English.
T -- 1:59. Officials -- Brant Lee, John Martin. A -- 412.